Lithuania among most attractive destinations for shared services and outsourcing

Global Shared Services industry experts named Eastern and Central Europe as the most attractive destination for Shared Services (SS) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) for businesses that are looking to relocate their operations to more competitive locations, Invest Lithuania reports.

Experts from the UK and the United
States gathered to share views on current trends in the global shared service
and BPO industry at a reception hosted by Invest
Lithuania, at the new premises of the Lithuanian Embassy in London on April
17, writes LETA/ELTA.

Cynthia Pasky, founder, president and CEO of Strategic Staffing Solutions (S3), highlighted that People, Price
and Proximity are key criteria for relocating operations. She remarked that
rising labour costs, retention, quality, and distance to client, both cultural
and physical, have emerged as factors challenging Asia's traditional advantages
as a destination.

Adrian Hall, Strategic Lead at Barclays
Bank PLC, noted that Barclays Bank
initially planned in 2010 to recruit around 250 employees for its strategic IT
engineering centre in Lithuania, but has since taken on some 700 IT
professionals. He said Barclays is very satisfied with the great talent pool,
cost-effectiveness and the geographical and cultural proximity of Lithuania to
the UK.

Former British Ambassador to
Lithuania Simon Butt and Lithuanian
Ambassador to the UK, Dr. Oskaras Jusys
agreed that with its highly skilled and multilingual talent, low operating
costs, physical and cultural proximity to Western and Northern Europe, Eastern
Europe is emerging as a strong competitor with Asia in terms of attracting
Shared Service as well as BPO investments.

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